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UCL News podcast: UCL Baking Project & Platypuses at the Grant Museum

10 December 2012

The UCL News podcast gives you the opportunity to listen to
the latest news and research from around UCL every fortnight. Split up
into three parts, you can either listen to the podcast all in one go, or save
features for later listening.

In the news section this week we are
joined by Niko van Poortvliet who recently joined UCL to help develop student focused video content. One
of his first projects has been the London
for Free Film competition, which he’s here to tell us about. As well as the news, this week our
roving reporter Henry caught up with a new student volunteering initiative, the
UCL Baking Project, as they bake cakes for the St Pancras Community Association. Lastly, George visits the Grant Museum of Zoology and
learns about its manager’s favourite specimen – a platypus!

Part 1 - News

This week our new multimedia
producer Niko van Poortvliet is with us in the podcast cave to talk about how
he’s developing our student YouTube channel. To encourage budding film makers
at UCL, he’s recently launched the London
for Free film competition in collaboration with Raindance Film. There’s also
news for cyclists with new research from UCL that shows that cycling
is a safer way to travel than driving in the UK. Lastly, we encourage our
listeners to go to a Christmas concert run by the UCLU Music Society.

Part 2 – UCL Baking Project

This week our roving report
Henry Green was invited by UCL’s Volunteering Services Unit to visit a new
initiative, run by students, called the UCL Baking Project. He spoke to Baking
Project member Linda Mao whilst she made some cakes for the St Pancras
Community Association. Henry also seems to have made some fans with the
Association’s patrons…

Part 3 – Platypuses at the Grant Museum

To round off this week’s
podcast George went down to the UCL Grant Museum of Zoology to speak to their
manager Jack Ashby about his favourite specimen – a duck-billed platypus.
Amongst other revelations, they explain how the platypus is can detect
electricity and why you wouldn’t want to be spiked by one of their horny spurs.